Yomi BlackWhat Music looks like in NECO is set by how NECO examines it: an objective paper, an essay paper, and a practical where the subject carries one. The topic areas matter, but the format decides how you should work them.
- Subject
- Music
- Examined by
- NECO
- Format here
- An objective paper, an essay paper, and a practical where the subject carries one
- Depth
- Senior secondary depth, examined on the same national curriculum as the other school certificate
- What the grade does
- A credit that combines cleanly with the other council’s result, because the two scales match
- Papers
- Objective, essay, an aural paper and a performance test.
- Required for
- Music, performing arts, music education and theatre arts
How NECO examines this subject
The format is an objective paper, an essay paper, and a practical where the subject carries one, and it is marked against NECO’s own mark scheme, on a nine-point scale identical to the other council’s.
Most candidates sit this alongside the other school certificate, which means this subject is your second chance at the same credit.
The paper structure, and how to weight your time
Objective, essay, an aural paper and a performance test.
Split your preparation roughly in the proportion the components are weighted. Candidates habitually over-prepare the part they enjoy and meet the other part for the first time in the hall.
What makes it hard
Four components, two of which are scheduled outside the main timetable, and candidates routinely lose one to a date they never chased.
Set that against how this examination works. Usually prepared alongside the same subject for the other council, which is efficient and also the reason candidates under-prepare the differences.
Where marks are lost in this subject
- Preparing performance and neglecting theory, which carries more marks.
- Missing the aural or performance dates, both of which are scheduled separately.
- Under-preparing the African and Nigerian music sections.
Get both the aural and the performance dates from your centre in writing.
Turning it into a plan
- Get the current syllabus from NECO and check the year range on the cover.
- Write one line per topic area, with a box beside it.
- Work a past paper in this examination’s format, an objective paper, and tag every question back to a line.
- Mark the lines your teaching has never covered. Those are the priority.
- Re-weight towards the component carrying the most marks. One internal diet a year, usually mid-year, on its own timetable rather than the other council’s.
What a good grade here is worth
In this examination the grade is a credit that combines cleanly with the other council’s result, because the two scales match. Music is required for music, performing arts, music education and theatre arts, and course requirements are checked subject by subject, so a strong overall result with a weak grade here is a disqualification for the course that names it rather than a near miss.
Quick answers on Music
What is the most common way candidates lose marks?
Preparing performance and neglecting theory, which carries more marks.
Where do I get the official syllabus?
From NECO, on its own site, free. Check the year range on the cover before you use it.
Has the syllabus changed?
Syllabuses are revised on published cycles and old ones stay online after they expire. If the copy you are holding has no year range, you do not know what you are holding.
How do I turn it into revision?
One line per topic area with a box beside it, then tick the lines off against past papers rather than against your notes. The lines that stay blank are the finding.
Is Music compulsory?
No. It is a humanities subject, chosen as one of your electives, and you should choose it because a course you want names it.
What is it required for?
Music, performing arts, music education and theatre arts.
How many papers are there?
Objective, essay, an aural paper and a performance test.
What makes it hard?
Four components, two of which are scheduled outside the main timetable, and candidates routinely lose one to a date they never chased.
What the subject covers
Use these topic areas as the frame for your own checklist, then verify the detail against the syllabus NECO publishes itself, because depth and emphasis shift between curriculum cycles even when the headings do not.
- Rudiments and theory of music.
- Harmony and counterpoint.
- Aural training.
- History of Western and African music.
- Nigerian traditional music.
- Performance on a chosen instrument or voice.
- NECO Music: past questions
- All NECO subjects
- NECO syllabus, all subjects
- NECO grading and what counts as a credit
Sources
- National Examinations Council. SSCE External registration. ssceexternal.neco.gov.ng
- National Examinations Council. www.neco.gov.ng